


In the Outside World

by Glass_Lady



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: (except not the popular fanon ones), Blogging, Don't copy to another site, Gen, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, News Media, Pre-Canon, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Texting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-01-01 05:05:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18329189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glass_Lady/pseuds/Glass_Lady
Summary: "A blog where 'a-simple-sleuth' records his thoughts on the 52nd season of Dangan Ronpa, 'Dangan Ronpa V2: Peak of Despair.' Expect reactions, theories, predictions, and DR trivia."A collection of writings from the outside world, focusing on one Dangan Ronpa fan's live blog of season 52.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So... this is gonna be more of a side project. I don't know how often it will update, but I had this idea for a while so I've decided to post it. I love 'in-universe documents' fics, whatever you call them, and I thought it was the best fit for the story I wanted to tell with this. This first chapter is more focused on the blogging aspect, but later chapters will have text chats between characters and news articles to add depth to the setting. I'm not going to reveal which DRV3 character is behind each user name, at least not yet, but hopefully they won't be too hard to guess. Sorry the character art is a bit weird; I don't have a drawing tablet, so I made do with scanning my traditional drawings. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

**Danganronpa V2: Peak of Despair Liveblog: Intro and Character Previews**

_Posted April 5, 2XXX by a-simple-sleuth-watches-DRV2_

Hey everyone. This is a-simple-sleuth. I decided to do something a bit different for this season of DR. As some of you may know, usually I just posted analysis of particular moments or aspects of cases I wanted to talk about, along with little comments here and there, all on my main blog. But I figured that since we still haven’t really started a new ongoing universe since the end of the Despair in Time arc with DR50, I might try something more in depth. (We all knew from the moment they announced DRV1 with the crazy format shift it would be a one off season; you don’t start new continuities with non-standard rule seasons.) 

Here’s how this blog is going to work; after each episode airs I’ll post a quick summary, plus commentary/speculation on on-going plots, characters, etc. Expect the posts to get pretty long when we get to cases and trials, and later in the season. I want to be more ambitious than just case analysis this time and see if I can figure out the meta-plot.   

Before we start, what did we know about V2 before this? Well, besides some tweets from Team DR that it would not continue V1’s plot, and that it would be a more traditional season, not much. We got the title/logo, which hinted that this would be very different tonally from V1, given the font’s were not sci-fi themed in the slightest. Plus it hinted at the main twist; instead of a school, the Ultimates are stuck in a mountain lodge. The exact nature of the location was revealed last week with a preview image.

So all we knew before now was the location and it was a normal season, but that was it.

However, today we got the character previews! As usual, it’s just the names, talents, appearances, a quick quote for each individual character, and three group images, including a “cover” image. So I’m going to go through each character and give my general impression, thoughts on what their personality/arc might be, and if I think they’ll be a victim, culprit or survivor.

First up we have our protagonist, Ayuto Yukimura, the Ultimate Mystery Writer. My immediate thought is that he seems like an optimistic type protag, like Makoto (DR1), Rina (DR23), and Kaoru (DRμ). He’s got the small height and build, bright smile, plus that quote: “Our friends deserve to know the truth!”

What’s interesting about this is that usually this type of protagonist doesn’t have a crime-related talent. It’s usually Lucksters, Assistants, generally social talents. _But_ , there have been artistically inclined protagonists before, and usually they are fun to watch because they make unexpected connections and need less help from an assistant type. I think combining that with a hint of crime knowledge could be _really_ interesting. But I _do_ expect him to struggle with how the cases in the killing game differ from the mysteries he writes. (Am I also a sucker for detective type characters? Yes. Yes I am.)

As with most protagonists, it’s a pretty safe bet he’ll be a survivor. Sure, there have been times we’ve been blindsided with a false protagonist, (Looking at you, Hibiki from DR37), but it is _very rare_ for a protag who makes it past the first case to die. I think it’s only happened once? (Okay, I looked it up and yes, the only case of that scenario is from DR20 with Arata, which makes sense considering it was one of the first Ultimate Real Fiction Seasons.) Either way, I think Ayuto could be a very interesting protag.

Next up we have Shiori Niwa, Ultimate Profiler, and if she doesn’t end up as the rival character, _I’ll eat my hat_. Seriously, her talent compliments Ayuto’s so perfectly, and that quote? “No secret can hide from the eyes of a profiler”? She _screams_ rival. And it’s been a while since we had a proper cold, analytical rival, especially a female one. I’ve been getting a bit sick of Komaeda clones.

But seriously, she looks interesting. Her whole demeanor in every image we got is controlled and calculating. I bet she’ll be fairly antagonistic, but maybe Ayuto or one of the other more cheerful cast members will get through to her. I bet secrets will play into her arc, considering part of her job is to figure out what people are hiding. And she’ll certainly be useful during trials.

But will she survive? Well, this is a bit tougher. Analytic-type rivals are the most likely to survive of all the rival types, but in general rivals are late-game victims. But, I’m quite certain she won’t be a culprit, especially considering her talent is about helping to catch criminals.

Our second boy is Hiroki Fukumori, the Ultimate Ramen Chef. I definitely peg him as a dupe type. He just has the look of a Kazuichi (SDR2) or Jun (DR25). The punk aesthetic he has going on is refreshing, but overall he looks like a slightly dumb but enthusiastic guy.

His quote hints at something interesting though. “Time ta prove what home cooking can do, ya hear?” See, to me this reads like they took the idea of Teruteru (SDR2) being from the country and instead of having him turn away from his origins, Hiroki wants to _prove_ _himself_ , which I honestly think could be cool. At the very least it’ll be nice to have a dupe with some motivation.

And like most dupes, he’ll probably survive. Of course he could end up a victim, depending on how heavily he features in the first chapter. But considering there was a bait and switch with the dupe of last season, Eichi, killing someone in the late game, I doubt Hiroki will become a blackened.

Alright, on to a bit of a puzzle: Iona Yamashiro, Ultimate Mixologist. So here’s the thing. Her general design and appearance reads as a mature character. Considering that usually the more “adult” talents go to mature/sexy characters, that would make sense. But her expression and quote don’t exactly match the normal sexy type. Her quote is “You gotta try harder if you want me to enable you.” To me that reads like someone who is _actually_ mature, not “mature” like what tends to happen with older-looking girls in this series. I’m actually pretty excited for Iona.

Unfortunately with characters that are outside common types, it’s hard to pin down what her fate might be, but my gut says victim. Both sexy and motherly types tend to end up victims.

Our fifth character is Yasuo Utagawa, Ultimate Composer. Well, I know a few people will be _very_ happy we finally have a musical talent again. We haven’t had one since Mie the Ultimate Flutist in DR46. He reads very scattered artist type to me, what with his messy hair, hat and scarf, and the quote: “I find inspiration for the grand in the mundane.”

Yasuo’ll probably be an airhead and kind of strange. What sort of arc he’ll have will depend a lot on what motives they use and who he’s able to make friends with.

Artistic types can go many ways, but they almost never survive, especially past chapter 3. I expect if he ends up killing it’ll be in case 3 or 4, probably a desperation kill fueled by an intense motive. If he’s a victim, case 2 or 3. Either way, he should at least bring some levity to things while he’s around, and his loss will probably hit moral pretty hard.

Up next is Suzumi Mitsugi, the Ultimate Toy Maker. On the surface she’s a simple spunky girl type; not quite active enough to be a true Genki Girl in my book, but close. She has a cute design and quote (“Everyone deserves a toy made with love!”), but in one of the group key images she’s cuddling a very scary looking doll, so it seems she’s a bit quirky. Other than that, she seems average.

To me Suzumi seems like an easy pic for victim. She’s small and cute and mostly nondescript. But part of that comes from my suspicion that she could end up being Ayuto’s love interest, since she’s standing near him in both the group shot I mentioned and the cover art. And as long time DR fans should know, love interests almost always die. But will it be early, like Sayaka (DR1) or You (DRXI), or later, like Chiaki (SDR2) or Hanami (DR20)? The real thing to consider is if Team DR put the hints of their relationship in this promo to act a _decoy_ , and Suzumi will be a long term character, or as a hint to her early death? We won’t know until the first chapter starts.

Now we have Hayato Aozora, Ultimate Linguist. He seems to the studious/intellectual type for the season, what with his bookish appearance and quote, “To study language is to get to the heart of humanity.” His posing in all the images suggests to me he’ll a somewhat snobbish character, but probably not as antagonistic as Shiori.

Without knowing more I can’t say for sure, but I think Hayato could end up a culprit. If his snobbishness comes from a sense of duty or entitlement, there are plenty of motives that could get to him. And unless he is more of a snob than I thought and gets a _big_ arc, he probably won’t survive.

Now it’s time for the obligatory sports girl, Anna Fujima the Ultimate Volleyball Player. I actually think her design is pretty cool. Now, I know some fans really disliked the older trend of the sporty girl being basically the only darker skinned character in the cast. And yeah, I get that, but _here’s the thing_ ; not only is that trend (thankfully) mostly done and we’re getting a wider range of skin tones on a regular basis, but this particular cast has several darker people (Just look at Shiori and Shusuke). I don’t mind the throwback here because it feels less like “only sporty people can have dark skin because tanning” now. She’s seems very much a traditional sports girl; perky, active, impulsive. Her quote is literally, “If you’re not sweating, you’re not trying hard enough!” Not much else to say.

Now there has been a long tradition of the sports girl surviving to the end, but Team DR always likes to throw curve balls. The last few sporty girls were less traditional, but still survived, so I’m going to bet that they’re reversing it here; traditional design/personality, but she won’t make it. Probably a victim though.

There’s always a bit of an oddball physically in the cast, and it looks like this time it’s one Shigeru Nagai, Ultimate Jockey. At least him being so short makes _sense_ with his talent. I’m not getting much from him, but he seems like a loud, upright type? A bit like DR1’s Kiyotaka. In one of the group shots he seems to be overseeing the group. He seems like he leans more enthusiastic, rather than harsh from his quote; “A horse needs a firm but gentle hand.” He even seems like he could try leading the group. 

Still, leader types often die trying to save the group. But, Shigeru could also kill someone in the group if he thought they were a threat to everyone. That’s what makes leader types hard to predict; they are so much more outwardly motivated.

And next is the big person of the season, Yui Murano, the Ultimate Glass Blower. They’re kind of leaning on the more artistic talents this season, huh? Well, the whole Despair in Time arc had fewer art types, so maybe they’re making up for it. Either way, Yui seems like a protective big sister type, especially with the way she was leaning somewhat protectively over a few of the smaller girls in one of the group shots. Plus her quote, “Fire can harden, but it can also break. Find the right amount of heat.”

There is also a tradition of the big characters dying late game, and honestly I expect that to continue here. She’ll probably be a victim, dying to protect someone.

We have another short boy in the cast, but he looks way less okay with it than Ayuto. Shusuke Kinokiri, the Ultimate Mathematician. He looks like a hothead, honestly—grumpy and prickly. He’ll probably have something to prove to everyone (“Tell me math is boring and I’ll sock you in the jaw!”), and that’ll cause some tension with the rest of the cast.

It’s often hard to tell with hotheads, because regardless of whether he ends up a survivor, victim, or blackened, there are potential story beats. Honestly he’s question marks.

Next we seem to have a shy girl type, Rumiko Kishimoto, Ultimate Geologist. Her whole design with the oversized coat just enhances the air of timid-ness she has. It looks likes she’s gonna be a shy but weird type, rather than a shy and sweet type, at least if her quote is any indication: “I… like rocks. We need them to live, you know.”

Shy girls are tricky; they seem like perfect victims, so sometimes DR bluffs and has them survive, but they’ve also _double bluffed_ us and had them kill. It’ll all depend on how much development she gets. For now I’m leaning culprit; something about her makes me think she could snap.

Now this guy could be either interesting or _really_ grating. Takehide Chikanari, the Ultimate Hairdresser. He immediately reads flamboyant and stuck up. His design is standard pretty boy, and his quote is literally, “People tend to forget that you have to balance ‘being yourself’ with ‘being presentable.’” Like, really dude? Not gonna be making many friends with that attitude. 

No way is this guy surviving. He’ll be a first or second chapter victim, _easy_. He’s too annoying to keep around, and he’s unlikely to be helpful during trials.

Next up is the token loli girl, and wow, they went ham on making her cute this season. It’s Aimi Sakurashita, the Ultimate Children’s Voice Actor. After the extremely different (and amazing _don’t @ me_ ) arc they had with Tama last season, it seems Team DR is swinging the other way. Just look at how sweet and sugary this girl is! And her quote, “I want my voice to inspire the dreamers of the future,” could kill more cynical viewers with how sweet it is. I’m not sure how they’ll deal with this; I have seen too many sugary optimists get crushed by despair to be hopeful she’ll get out of this unscathed.

Honestly, because she seems so much like a shoe-in for a victim, I’m going to say culprit for her. Probably later game, after too much despair, she’ll snap. It will be heartbreaking. (And some of you guys will _love it_ ; don’t even try to lie).

Alright, it’s our last boy: Rantaro Amami, Ultimate Adventurer. Wow, he is a pretty boy, (but not in an obnoxious way), and I don’t doubt that at least one girl in the cast will get a crush on him. But he also gives off a slightly mysterious air. Not a dangerous sort of mysterious, but an “I wanna know what this guy has seen” kind of mysterious. His quote is interesting considering his talent. “The journey may be most important, but it’s the goal that get’s you started.” To me it implies that, even though he reads as care-free adventure type with a hint of mystery, he has a real goal for what he does. And I always enjoy characters with tangible goals going into the game. 

As for if what’ll happen to him, I’m kind of leaning blackened again. If his mysterious goal is important enough to him, he might kill to achieve it. But I do think he’ll be a late game culprit, like case 4 or maybe even 5.

And now the person you’ve been waiting to hear me talk about, Kaori Umezaki, this season’s Ultimate Survivor. You all know I was super excited that Kaori was coming back this season. DRV1 was such a huge departure from the normal format, and while it was fun as a one off, I’m super intrigued by how Kaori will handle a more traditional Killing Game. She survived as long as she did because she was smart and charming, getting in people’s good graces to avoid being targeted. That will serve her well, but if she isn’t careful she’ll end up with a target on her back.

Another thing I find interesting is that Kaori’s talent isn’t listed as Survivor or ???, but as Gothic Lolita. We all know her real talent is Perfumist, but usually the Survivor’s old talent is stripped, left as ??? to the other students. You know what this says to me? Kaori is going to _lie_ about her talent, because she doesn’t want to draw suspicion because she has forgotten it. Which I love. God, Kaori is awesome.

Now we’re all aware that Survivors are in a tricky spot; they have more information to help them get to the end, but that can make them more likely to get into trouble and become a target. I think if Kaori plays her cards right she could make it to the end, but I’m worried she’ll get too ambitious.

And that’s a wrap of the character previews! We’ll be getting the first episode tomorrow, so as soon as I get the chance to watch it and write up my thoughts I’ll post them here.

Do I have any other predictions? Well, based on the style of the logo and the hard sci-fi leaning of last season, I have a feeling this season will be a bit less sci-fi focused. Obviously there’ll be a bit of that because of Monokuma, but from the black and white promo image and the shadow-y feel of the main group shot, I’m getting like, a weird science superpowers vibe? Like Espers and telekinesis, that sort of thing? I don’t know. Plus the remote setting would be good for like, cryptids or something. I don’t know how that would work honestly, but it has been a while since Team DR went in a more fantasy (??) direction.

Like others have certainly suggested, I bet the small size of the location will really bump up the tension; there just isn’t enough _space_ for the students to avoid each other. But! I really like this cast and I know that this is a turning point for DR, a time to try new things before we start a new larger continuity, and I can’t wait to see what they’ll pull out.

 

**Comments**

**jokerswildcard wrote:** what do you mean cryptids are fantasy???? obviously they are real; just look at me. :3c

            **a-simple-sleuth replied:** Wow, a real cryptid that doesn’t even like DR has   invaded my blog. Whatever shall I do?

                        **jokerswildcard replied:** i’m just here to support my bff ;P

                                    **bye-loser replied:** you literally decided if you couldn’t gethim to join your weird anti-DR conspiracy you’d just stalk him. <.< (seriously though great analysis sleuth)

                                                **a-simple-sleuth replied:** Be nice; joker’s cool to talk with about non-DR stuff. People are allowed to have different opinions. And thank you!

 **do-re-meme wrote:** you bet im excited for a music person!!! “It’s been 84 years…”

 **a-simple-sleuth replied:** Why don’t you just use the gif?

                        **do-re-meme replied:** because its funnier to just quote gifs. im on a higher level, my dude.

 **gaia-no-mikoto wrote:** I’ve seen your past analysis around online before, so I am very excited to see what you think of this season. I found your thoughts on the characters very well thought out; I certainly didn’t notice some of the details you did. I do hope they go with a more supernatural angle this season. I’ve always thought there was a lot of potential there, but we’ve barely seen Team DR touch it. We’ll have to wait and see.

            **a-simple-sleuth replied:** Oh gosh, thanks. Yeah, I do think there’s potential to the urban fantasy thing, but we’ll have to see if they can blend it with other important elements of the series. There’s a reason DR31 is so controversial, given how it handled the fantasy elements.

 **witchy-chan wrote:** uh, hi! i don’t usually comment, but wowey. i just found this blog and you are super smart. i usually get really confused watching, so maybe this will help? (also i love DR31 so if this ends up with any fantasy stuff in it i will be super happy.)

            **a-simple-sleuth replied:** Wow, thank you! I’ll do my best to explain myself clearly.

 **anon wrote:** u r wrong tama sucks

 **anon wrote:** rantaro is bae <3<3<3

**…**

**anon wrote:** What is this…?

            **another anon replied:** dude this blog is so old now wtf are you doing here?


	2. Chapter 2

TO: **a-simple-slueth**

 Mon, April 6, 19:17

**jokerswildcard**

heeeeeeeeeey :)

~~~~sleuth~~~~

answer meeeeeeee

i know it’s time for everyone in our generation to huddle in their rooms to watch the premier of the latest offering by the Great Junko-sama or wtv, but come on.

this is important

…fine I’ll text you later

Chat Ended

 

TO: **shslhottie**

Mon, April 6, 19:27

**jokerswildcard**

waddup skank

it’s time for your most favorite friend who totally sticks with you even when everyone think’s you’re awful to get to exercise his Friend Privileges by getting 1 free vent.

**shslhottie**

ah ah ah you little shit

you forgot the important rule with Friendship Privileges:

they don’t mean SHIT when DR is on, you fuckin’ gremlin

**jokerswildcard**

plz? : (

**shslhottie**

go bug someone else

use your free vent on something more important

like your non-existence love life ;)

**jokerswildcard**

fiiiiiiiine

love you bitch

**shslhottie**

lol you too asshat 凸(¬‿¬)

Chat Ended

 

TO: **never2manystars**

 Mon, April 6 19:31

**jokerswildcard**

freeeeeeeind

talk to meeeeeeeeee

everyone is busy watching DR and i have ThingsTM to talk about, and i don’t feel like just throwing my word vomit onto twitter where it’s just gonna get lost under people fan-boying all night.

**never2manystars**

Dude, I gave you my blog name for one reason: so we could coordinate the prank with your club’s props and stuff.

I ain’t humoring your anti-DR conspiracy shit.

**jokerswildcard**

booo you’re no fun

**never2manystars**

And you’re a freak.

Chat Ended

 

TO: **bye-loser**

 Mon, April 6, 19:34

**jokerswildcard**

hey sleuth’s friend!

two questions

**bye-loser**

don’t bother asking.

also why the fuck are you messaging me? you don’t even know me.

**jokerswildcard**

maybe I wanna get to know one of my friend’s friends?

anyway, one of my questions was just what I should call you, since your user name does not lend itself to proper nicknames. i am hurt!

**bye-loser**

we aren’t going to be talking enough for you to need to know. Now go away, DR is gonna be back on in a second.

**jokerswildcard**

aw, c’moooooooon

you can call me joker!

now it’s your turn!

please?

please?

please?

please?

**bye-loser**

god; if I answer will you stop?

**jokerswildcard**

maybe ;)

**bye-loser**

don’t make me block you.

**jokerswildcard**

fine, yes

**bye-loser**

you can call me haru.

**jokerswildcard**

oooooo it that your real name?

**bye-loser**

you have five seconds to stop before I block you for real.

**jokerswildcard**

:[

 Chat Ended

 

TO: **jokerswildcard**

Mon, April 6, 19:40

**a-simple-sleuth**

Hey, sorry I missed you earlier! I was using the commercial breaks to makes notes for the blog. What’s so important it couldn’t wait til tomorrow?

**jokerswildcard**

he liiiiiiiives!!!

he has returned from the land of Killing Games and Teenage Drama Bullshit!

sound the alarm, the end is nigh, etc. etc.

**a-simple-sleuth**

Ha hah, very funny.

But really, you said it was important.

**jokerswildcard**

but of course!

read this: www.news.nvr.co.jp/2XXX/04/06/politics/teen-mental-health-vote-fail/index.html

**a-simple-sleuth**

Oof, looks like a doozy. But hey, NVR is a legit news source, so that’s nice.

**jokerswildcard**

i am hurt! i only post links from places i trust! 

just because some have been discredited by our wider culture doesn’t mean they don’t have a point.

**a-simple-sleuth**

Look, Joker, I totally get your point, but you would piss off people less if you sounded less like a conspiracy theorist all the time. I’m happy you’re using more credible sources is what I’m saying.

**jokerswildcard**

so you’ll give my ideas a chance?

**a-simple-sleuth**

We’ll see; I haven’t read the article yet.

 **jokerswildcard**

a read is all i ask

**a-simple-sleuth**

… I am skeptical.

**jokerswildcard**

okay, a read is all I ask NOW

but once you read it maybe I can… share my thoughts? :3

 **a-simple-sleuth**

...Tomorrow, and only after I get the blog post done.

**jokerswildcard**

you drive a hard bargain sleuth, but fine 

later then

Chat Ended

 

* * *

**Teen Mental Health Act fails to pass in the House of Representatives**

By AKIRA ISHIKAWA

April 6, 2XXX at 19:00

Today the long-debated Teen Mental Health Act did not pass into law by a narrow margin of 14 votes.

The Act would have devoted 335 million yen to funding mental health awareness programs in select schools across the country, and to creating ‘Teen Support Centers,’ in several major cities, where teens could go to talk to therapists and other mental health professionals about their problems.

The focus of the Act would be to create compassionate and confidential spaces, staffed by trained professionals, where teens could receive help with problems of bullying, depression, anxiety, and family issues.

Intended as the first step towards a more comprehensive program to combat persistent issues with teenage depression and suicide, the Teen Mental Health Act will have to go back to the drawing board.

Detractors of the act tended to sight the cost as an issue, as well as the lack of parent involvement. “I think any approach to teen mental health cannot exclude the parents from the equation,” said Senator Osamu Uesugi. “The family is the foundation of children’s lives, and I believe anyone dealing with troubles would be better off with their parents being part of the team helping them find a solution.”

Supporters of the bill counter that those like Senator Uesugi are simply appealing to tradition, where mental health issues were kept as private as possible and dealt with at home. “Parents often simply do not have the know how to really help their children, and that’s not even getting into the situations where the parents are part of the problem,” said Senator Mana Kawate.

Some opponents of Uesugi also bring up another possible motive for his voting against the bill: his long time friendship with Kazuo Kodama, the head of entertainment mega-corporation Team Dangan Ronpa. They claim that having a large pool of depressed teens is what allows Team DR to find contestants year after year. Of course, Team DR refuses to release any demographic information on their applicants, so there is no data to confirm or deny this claim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this focuses more on world building and showing some of the characters relationships. Hopefully that was still fun. Next time we'll go back to the live blog. Thanks for reading!


End file.
